Random

How simple is this idea?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40821915

There is a huge variation in home contents insurance premiums. Just check that you are getting the same level of cover including valuables when out of the house, and cash from wallets/handbags

These mixed up speed limits are a right shambles. 

The odd thing is, a small van such as a Traffic or Transporter, has a maximum limit of 60mph on a dual carriageway (car is 70), 50 on a single carriageway (car is 60) but still 70mph on a motorway, however if it is a camper van (no heavier than 3.05 tonne, unladen) the limit on a dual carriageway and single carriageway are the same as that of a car.

The weight thing of no more than 3.05 tonne for a camper is strange as most Trafic and Vivaro vans are either 2.7 or 2.9 tonne maximum weight, so why can a heavier camper, legally go quicker on single and dual carriageway?

My spam filter this morning had three consecutive emails which made me smile and wonder if there was any connection: "3 seconds get hard and large naturally" followed by "Here's how to bring any DEAD BATTERY back to life again" and then "Is it time you considered health insurance?"  - quite possibly if I have used the batteries!

The van operator won't even be looking, probably. But the database will know the vehicle type that is registered. I'd be careful. Or at least check your V5 to see what it is classed as.

It's idiotic that a Shogun with seats and rear windows can have a higher speed limit than one without.

Mrs P is on her way to Belfast as I type. Apart from two pooches, I have the house to myself until Saturday.

I was over in Belfast and Dublin a few weeks back and what surprised me more (well not too much!) was that diesel is 10c cheaper than petrol south of the border. 

Thanks to Durham Police, my Land Rover is on the ISR and has had its various body parts etched free of charge.

Yes, the officer organising the initiative (also a Defender owner) discussed my security. It's about as good as it can reasonably get. 

Any opinion on the tracker systems on offer out there? I looked into two and while one was expensive, the other was in the realms of madness. I asked why there was a need for such high costs and the girl on the phone said "Well, we like to send signals several times a day and we use hyper secure emails which cost a lot". When I said the only time they needed signals was when I called and asked where the car was she then mentioned phoning me every time they noticed the car moving and that is so expensive. I thought better of it tbh. It sounds like life is far too short. Bess is quite well known in the VW community so I am left hoping insurance and the club are enough. Thing is, several times now I have been approached by people who are not easy to deter, asking when I will be selling the car and to call them 'WHEN' I change my mind. The most determined recently told me "I know you are going to do the right thing", which I took as a particularly lame attempt to intimidate me. Sad.

Even cheaper than that are some of the 30 or 40 quid Ebay jobbies. An owner of a motorbike tracked his using his mobile to inside the downstairs living room of a 2 storey house on my patch about 2 months ago. The GPS location was amazingly accurate, right down to the correct corner of the house. He got the bike back. For the cost I'd consider one of those unless you need it to be insurance approved.

To my mind if someone reports a strong suspicion, backed up by a GPS signal, of a stolen vehicle at a location then it bloody well should be looked at, even if it rules out the signal/location as an error.

Trouble is (and don't take this as a dig Stu) the Police often don't have the time and resources to chase after what can be easily replaced by the insurance company. I know your Defender is a bit harder to replace but your more commonplace Focus ST or Golf R is easier to be left to the insurance company to replace.